One More Spoon of Cough Syrup [Zayn Malik FanFiction]

Chapter 20

"I'm not a perfect person, there's many things I wish I didn't do. But I continue learning, I never meant to do those things to you." - 'The Reason' by Hoobastank.

Needless to say rehearsals later that day were awkward.

Eleanor joined us in the arena asking where Saniya was. The boys all looked at me, as though they expected me to know where she went. Not wanting to cause any worries, I simply told her that she had gone for a walk and didn't say when she'd be back. I also assured her that she wasn't in a bad mood when she'd left so she wouldn't do anything stupid.

Liam's eyes were blank. He kept messing up - whether it was running into one of us, not moving at all, getting the lyrics wrong, singing at the wrong time or not even singing. If none of this happened, I would've been pissed with him, but I knew he couldn't take the guilt.  I could tell that he knew he acted like an arsehole and it was affecting him bad; twice he had to talk to our stage manager; I wasn't sure what lie Liam told, but whatever he said, it was believable.

"Zayn, I have to find her," he muttered, desperately to me after messing up in Same Mistakes.

I shook my head. "Liam, don't," I said, quietly. "I know Saniya and when she's mad, she likes to be left alone. She'll heal herself, mate."

Not that I wasn't worried myself - although I hadn't known her long I did consider Saniya as an especially close friend...whether I wanted her as more, I wasn't sure yet. Sometimes, I questioned myself whether or not my caring feelings for Saniya were beyond the brotherly level. Nevertheless, I knew Saniya better than anyone else here, and I knew her well. She wouldn't do anything stupid, no matter how much of a bad mood she was in; she was tougher than a brick wall - it took a lot to break her down. If she ran into trouble, I knew she'd be able to beat the crap out of whoever was annoying her.

We had just finished Gotta Be You, when Liam leaped off the stage and ran to the doors. "I'm not feeling well," he shrieked before leaving.

Liar - the guilt was eating him alive. 

Everyone, besides the other boys and I, all seemed to believe him. I glanced at the lads and they all shrugged. Niall looked a little hopeful, probably hoping that Liam will come back in a matter of ten seconds with Saniya smiling like nothing happened. I'm sure he would've gone with Liam if our stage manager didn't look so frustrated, I would've gone too. In fact, I'm surprised he let Liam go in the first place.

Liam's POV

I hated admitting I was wrong - but I hated grudges at the same time and considering what I'd said...that really was out of order. And the last thing she said to me: "Why would you care, right?" That hurt. A lot.

I honestly didn't know why I had lost it with her - I was hurt that Zayn confessed to Saniya before he told us, but the way I'd lost control and had a go at her...dude, I acted like such a prick.

I had walked ten minutes away form the arena, when I realised...I had no idea where Saniya was. Nor where she could be. I should've taken Zayn with me, he knew her best out of all of us! 

Wait...Zayn knew her better. She always did remind me of Zayn in some way or another; what would Zayn do when he's mad?

I shook my head and made my way back to the bus. I couldn't get far without getting lost and that wasn't the best idea.

When I entered, I found her standing in the kitchen unit.

I shut the door behind me, my mouth slightly open. "Hi."